8 Transport in animals Flashcards
Why are specialised transport systems needed?
1) The metabolic demands of most multicellular animals are high, so diffusion over the long distances is not enough to supply the quantities needed.
2) The surface area to volume ratio gets smaller as multicellular organisms get bigger so diffusion distances get bigger and the amount of surface area available to absorb or remove substances becomes relatively smaller.
3) Molecules such as hormones or enzymes may be made in one place but needed in another.
What features do most circulatory systems have in common?
1) A liquid transport medium that circulates around the system (blood).
2) Vessels that carry the transport medium.
3) A pumping mechanism to move the fluid around the system.
What are mass transport systems?
A transport system where substances are being transported in a mass of fluid.
What is an open circulatory system?
A circulatory system with a heart but a few vessels to contain the transport medium.
What happens in the open circulatory system?
1) The heart is segmented and contracts in a wave, starting from the back, pumping the blood in a single main artery.
2) That artery opens up into the body cavity- haemocoel.
3) The haemolymph (insect blood) comes into direct contact with the tissues and the cells, which is where exchange takes place.
What type of organisms have an open circulatory system?
Invertebrates (e.g insects)
What does the circulatory system supply the insects calls?
- It supplies it with nutrients
- Transports hormones around the body
- However it doesn’t supply the insect’s cells with oxygen, this is done by the tracheal system
What is a closed circulatory system?
A circulatory system where the blood is enclosed in blood vessels and does not come into direct contact with the cells
Where are single circulatory systems found?
E.g fish
What is a single closed circulatory system?
- A circulatory system where the blood flows through the heart and is pumped out to travel all around the body before returning to the heart.
- Blood travels only once through the heart for each complete circulation of the body.
What does the blood pass through in a single closed circulation?
- The blood passes through two sets of capillaries before it returns to the heart.
What happens in a double circulatory system?
- Blood is pumped from the heart to the lungs to pick up oxygen and unload carbon dioxide, and then returns to the heart.
- Oxygenated blood flows through the heart and is pumped out to travel all around the body before returning to the heart again.
What is a double circulatory system?
- A circulatory system where the blood travels twice through the heart for each complete circulation of the body.
- Each circuit only passes through one capillary network, which means a relatively high pressure and fast flow of blood can be maintained.
What are the five types of blood vessels?
1) Arteries
2) Arterioles
3) Capillaries
4) Venules
5) Veins
What do arteries do?
- Arteries carry blood away from the heart to the tissues of the body.
- All arteries carry oxygenated blood except the pulmonary arteries which take deoxygenated blood to the lungs.
What do artery walls contain?
- Artery walls contain elastic fibres, smooth muscle and collagen.
- The elastic fibres enable them to withstand the force of the blood pumped out of the heart and stretch to take the larger blood volume.
- In between the contractions of the heart, the elastic fibres recoil and return to their original length.
- This helps to even out of the surges of blood pumped from the heart to give a continuous flow.
What are arterioles and what do they do?
- Arterioles link the arteries and the capillaries.
- They have more smooth muscle, which allows them to expand or contract, thus controlling the amount of blood flowing to tissues.
What are capillaries?
- Capillaries are microscopic blood vessels that link the arterioles with the venules.
- They form an extensive network through all the tissues of the body.
- Substances are exchanged through the capillary walls between the tissue cells and the blood.
How are capillaries adapted for their role?
- They provide a very large surface area for the diffusion of substances into and out of the blood.
- The walls are a single endothelial cell thick, giving a very thin layer of diffusion.
- The relatively slow movement of blood through capillaries give more time for the exchange of materials by diffusion between the blood and the cells.
What do veins do?
- Veins carry blood towards the heart and away from the cells of the body
- They carry deoxygenated blood, except for the pulmonary veins which carries oxygenated blood from the lungs to the heart.
What are the features of veins?
- They have valves to prevent the backflow of blood.
- The walls contain lots of collagen and little elastic fibre.
- The vessels have a wide lumen and a smooth, thin lining so the blood flows easily.
- Very low blood pressure
What are venules?
- Smaller veins.
- Several venules join to form a vein.
What are functions of blood?
The transport of:
- Oxygen to, and carbon dioxide from the respiring cells
- Digested food from the small intestines
- Chemical messages (hormones)
- Platelets to damaged areas
What are the main cellular components of blood?
- Plasma
- Erythrocytes
- Platelets
- Leucocytes